favorite movie #7: the women

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #7 - The Women (1939) - The snappy dialogue (written by Clare Booth Luce, from her play), and Anita Loos never quits. The first time I watched this classic film I didn’t realize until it was over that there were no men in the cast, as they were made such real characters by the women’s conversations. And the color fashion sequence! And the jewelry! It’s all too, too, fun.

Mary Haines (Norma Shearer): I've had two years to grow claws, mother. Jungle red!

Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford): There's a name for you ladies, but it isn't used in high society... outside of a kennel.

more jungle red . . .

. . . for Eliza

Sylvia Fowler: [Showing her nails to Mary] Mary, how do you like that?
Nancy Blake: Too, too adorable.
Sylvia Fowler: Ah, you have no idea how it stays on... I get it at Sydney's, you should go Mary. A wonderful new manicurist, Olga's her name, she's marvellous. Isn't that divine? Jungle red!
Nancy Blake: Looks like you've been tearing at somebody's throat!
Sylvia Fowler: [Smacks her hand on the table] I'll be darned Nancy if I let you ride me anymore!
Mary Haines: Oh Sylvia, Nancy's only trying to be clever too.
Sylvia Fowler: Well, she takes a crack at everything about me... Even my nails!
Mary Haines: Well I like them, I really do. Sydney's, Olga's, jungle red... I'll remember.

Mary Haines: I've had two years to grow claws mother. Jungle red!

old trouts

Just watched last year's The Women remake on cable and it was as bad as I feared. The lame attempts to update the excellent 1939 film were...simply lame. Where was the banter? The pace? The sheer, delightful bitchiness? Even the fashion show, trying so hard to be tasteful, completely missed the campy mark that the original film had. And the lamest of all movie scenes that we've had to sit through ad nauseum, the rush to get the pregnant gal to the hospital...

There were glimpses of the old Meg Ryan at times, but too many scenes where I found myself trying to examine her mouth and its perpetual grin. The scene about plastic surgery with Candice Bergen was especially painful. And what was with the decision to make the ultimate bitch character Sylvia into the BFF? Oh well, not everybody can be Rosalind Russell, Joan Crawford, Paulette Goddard, or even holier-than-thou Norma Shearer. I'll take the original please. And Jungle Red - not this pale, old trout imitation.